The invention herein pertains to bicycles and particularly pertains to a passenger carrier for positioning behind the bicycle seat to allow a passenger to stand or sit over the rear wheel.
It is common to carry passengers on bicycles in either a standing or sitting position. U.S. Pat. No. 5,810,229 demonstrates a standing passenger carrier, while U.S. Pat. No. 5,285,935 demonstrates a typical luggage or child carrier positioned over the rear wheel of a bicycle. While each of these prior art devices are beneficial, there has existed a need for a carrier to allow a passenger to either sit or stand as desired behind the conventional bicycle seat. Also, the passengers, seated or standing should be comfortable and secure. There is also a need for such a carrier to be easily assembled and mounted or disassembled and removed as needed.
Thus, with the shortcomings and disadvantages of present bicycle passenger carriers, the present invention was conceived and one of its objectives is to provide a carrier which includes a handle, legs and footrests to accommodate passengers.
It is yet another objective of the present invention to provide a passenger carrier which can be easily mounted or removed from a conventional bicycle using simple hand tools.
It is a further objective of the present invention to provide a passenger carrier which will allow the passenger to stand or sit in comfort as desired.
It is a further objective of the present invention to provide a passenger seat and storage compartment for carrying miscellaneous items which can be easily accessed from under the passenger seat.
It is still a further objective of the present invention to provide a backrest which can be easily affixed to the passenger seat for additional passenger comfort.
Various other objectives and advantages of the present invention will become apparent to those skilled in the art as a more detailed description is set forth below.
A bicycle passenger carrier attachment is provided formed from tubular metal such as aluminum or steel which includes a U-shaped handle having depending legs. C-shaped foot rests are affixed to the terminal ends of the legs to provide, in the preferred form, multiple steps for selection by sitting passengers of different heights. Polymeric tubular foam covers portions of the metal carrier which is integrally formed for increased friction and better gripping. A stabilizer is affixed to the depending legs and to the bicycle frame to support the carrier and to allow the front of the bicycle seat to rest thereon for stability purposes. A tubular seat frame is affixed to the passenger carrier legs which encloses a compartment with a hinged upper seat. Another tubular member forms a back rest and is affixed to the seat frame. Another embodiment of the passenger carrier provides horizontal C-shaped footrests for standing passengers.